Markku Varjo

Naturalist, aquarium consultant, journalist, author, photographer

Born on March 22nd, 1947, in Helsinki, Finland

Markku Varjo became interested in aquarium fish as a little boy when his father started breeding fishes at home in the 1950s. Later, in addition to going to school, he worked in his father’s pet shop ’Amazon’ in Helsinki and became familiar with the care and breeding of aquarium fish.

After finishing high school, Markku went to study natural sciences at the University of Helsinki and after obtained his MSc degree, he became a freelance journalist, author, photographer and aquarium consultant. He has written over 10 books on the aquarium hobby and fishes and has been the editor-in-chief of three Finnish aquarium magazines. Hundreds of his articles about fish, aquarium hobby and aquatic life have been published in various magazines and encyclopedias.

One of his greatest works, spanning decades, has been compiling Finnish vernacular names for fish species of the world. In 2022, his naming team completed a list with vernacular names for over 11,300 fish species. The list can be found on the Internet at Laji.fi.

Interest in fish and aquatic biotopes has taken Markku on trips to many tropical countries, including Tanzania, Costa Rica, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. He has also studied freshwater fishes in Scandinavia, in St. Petersburg, Russia and brackish water coasts of the Baltic Sea. Markku has visited over 40 public aquariums on different continents and has been involved in planning public aquariums in Finland. He has also been responsible for organizing numerous aquarium exhibitions in Finland.